Senators injury list continuing to grow

The line of Bobby Ryan, Derick Brassard and Mark Stone began this National Hockey League season with 11 goals and 14 assists in the first eight games.

In yet another indication of how the Senators season has slipped away, all three were sidelined with injuries for Tuesday night’s home game against the New Jersey Devils.

Ottawa Senators coach Guy Boucher watches his team during Thursday’s morning skate. Boucher said it was likely that winger Bobby Ryan would be out of action for “weeks” with another hand injury. Wayne Cuddington/ PostmediaWayne Cuddington /
Postmedia

Just to add a little for salt to those wounds, forward Nate Thompson was also out of the lineup after aggravating the lower-body injury that had bothered him for a month.

All of those things prompted the recall of Max McCormick from Belleville of the American Hockey League.

Ryan, plagued by on-going hand problems, is expected to be out “for weeks,” Senators head coach Guy Boucher said. It’s unlikely Ryan will be back before March, and there will be discussions about whether to shut him down for the rest of the season.

Boucher said Brassard was “banged up” in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and there was no update on whether he would return to action for Thursday’s game against Kyle Turris and the Nashville Predators.

If there was any positive spin, it was that Stone was on the ice for the entire morning skate Tuesday. Stone, who has missed the past seven games with a knee injury, hopes hoping to rejoin the lineup Thursday. He has skated on four consecutive days.

“It’s really coming along,” Stone said. “I had one minor setback, before the All-Star break, trying to skate, and it swelled up on me.”

Stone, who leads the Senators in scoring with 18 goals and 26 assists in 44 games, is expected to take part in full practice Wednesday.

“I will get a good practice in and see how I feel,” he said.

In a worse-case scenario, Stone said he would be ready to play Saturday in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.

Being sidelined, coupled with team losses that have piled up, has been difficult for Stone.

“No matter how the team is playing, winning or losing, you want to be out there battling,” he said. “It has been a pretty frustrating two or three weeks, especially when (it seemed like) I was pretty close to getting back and the knee didn’t react well.”

McCormick has averaged only 5:38 in three previous games with the Senators this season. McCormick, whose contract calls for a guaranteed NHL salary of $650,000 next season, has seven goals and 18 assists in 46 games with Belleville.

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